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*Sapient, Covance rally on heavy volume; both to be bought. NEW YORK, Nov 3- The S&P 500 and the Dow closed with slight losses on Monday after briefly touching intraday records, but strength in semiconductors boosted the Nasdaq. Equity Trading at The Williams Capital Group.

Nov 3- Laboratory Corp of America Holdings said it would pay $6.1 billion for Covance Inc, which carries out trials for drugmakers, as its diagnostic services business faces pressure from reimbursement cuts. Covance's shares jumped 25 percent to $100.28, nearing LabCorp's offer price of $105 per share. The cash-and-stock deal allows LabCorp to expand into the...

*Sapient, Covance rally on heavy volume; both to be bought. NEW YORK, Nov 3- U.S. stocks were little changed on Monday, with investors mostly taking a pause following a sharp rally on Friday, but both the S&P 500 and the Dow inched up to intraday records, while strength in semiconductors boosted the Nasdaq. "The bull market may be old and wrinkly, but it is still alive and...

*Offer represents premium of 32 pct to Covance's Friday closing. *Covance up 25 pct, LabCorp down 8 pct on NYSE. Nov 3- Laboratory Corp of America Holdings, a major provider of healthcare diagnostic services, said it would buy Covance Inc for about $6.1 billion in cash and stock to expand into the contract clinical trial business.

NEW YORK, Nov 3- U.S. stocks were little changed on Monday, with investors mostly taking a pause following a sharp rally on Friday, though the S&P 500 inched up to a new intraday record. "The bull market may be old and wrinkly, but it is still alive and there's nowhere else for investors to really go besides U.S. equities," said Paul Schatz, president and chief investment...

NEW YORK, Nov 3- U.S. stock index futures pointed to slight losses at the open on Monday, with investors taking a pause following a sharp rally on Friday that took the Dow and S&P 500 to record levels. Equities have been strong of late, with the Dow last week posting its biggest weekly gain since January 2013 and the S&P coming off its biggest two-week jump since...

Nov 3- Laboratory Corp of America Holdings, a major provider of healthcare diagnostic services, said it would buy Covance Inc for about $6.1 billion in cash and stock to expand into the contract clinical trial business. Covance shareholders will receive $75.76 in cash and 0.2686 LabCorp shares for each share held. The enterprise value of the deal is about $5.6...

Nov 3- Laboratory Corp of America Holdings, a provider of healthcare diagnostic services, said it would buy contract research company Covance Inc for about $6.1 billion in cash and stock. Covance shareholders will receive $75.76 in cash and 0.2686 LabCorp shares for each share held. The offer of $105.12 per share, based on LabCorp's Friday closing price,...

Stocks logged their fourth-straight session in positive territory Tuesday, with the S&P 500 about 1 percent below its all-time closing high of 1,669.16, lifted by a positive start to second-quarter earnings season.

BURLINGTON, N.C.-- Laboratory Corp. of America posted a 10 percent rise in third-quarter earnings compared with last year during the same period, when the clinical lab was weighed down by the cost of several acquisitions. For the third quarter, LabCorp earned $148 million, or $1.53 per share.